Combined time and coin controlled apparatus



Feb. 2, 1932. A. P. HODGE COMBINED TIME AND com coNTRoLLED APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet Feb. 2, 1932. A. P. HODGE 1,843,898

COMBINED TIME AND COIN CONTRLLED APPARATUS Filed April 26, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 S14/vento@ rare-nieu Feb, 2, 1932 i ALBERT r. Herzen orjwrivs'rnn; commencer, 4essieuein: {relive-LEAN; Li ermee-rvr lCroon coiirrsnorreferieren,feoivimorrour neergremrmoner CONNECTICUT l Appucuen fue@ April es,

y1e meclmnism, whereby the performance Willbe interrupted positively end faithfully at the end ofthe interval paid for.y

Another object of the invention resides-jin i y p l :l0 designates generally .zr coin y'chute Y I This 'Coin chiite 'is provi'cleclivith spared insulatedcon'tctsl "ihdfl VWhich muy form sectiion'slof the'chil'te.

providing` certainv improvements in thecoin 15 controlled appziratus `which provides "for the vvdeposit simultaneously :of 'a plurality 'of coin-s, and the mechanism is so coordinated 'and arranged Vthat the Coins' Vwill be fed through 'the coin apparatus singly', whereby 20 to continue the performunce'inn'substantiel- 'ly uninterrupted sequence from one ftime fpe'riodto the other.: r c' further objectof'theinvention resides 'in providing` e coordinate `coin n 'controlled v apparatus and "time controlled' `mechznisin,

wherein the parte are groupedand intercoupl'ed for unied operation', vvherehy the deposit of @proper coin vvillsetA the timeconltrolled mechanism vinto' operation will ostartthe p'erf'orinence, und the 'time 'c'o'ntrolled mechanism Will automatically Sus-l pend operationsund stop ther performance eiter tli'e'elapsed time paid flor.

t With the foregoing "end Aother "ohjectsjijn 35 view, tire invention Will benoreffully del 'seribe'd hereinafter; and ivill'he-morepirticuleirly pointed lout thevclaims Veppende'd hereto. 1 1

(fer to like or corresponding'partsthroughout the severzrl views, v l A i Figure l is en elevation of Ya timec`on trolled mechanism and cooperating" Coin con- 5 Atrolled apparatus Constructed fziccording to' the present invention and shoivn'inthe'closed or .operating ,posigion` '.i 1,

y Figure 2; is e similar yjvieiv 'with 4parts 'trollel discs.

ieee. sei-iai No; $159,362.

"fragmentry section through the coopertjing discs.

Figure'? isa detailvievv `offtlie eojin'hute showing -"the 'insuletion'meztns' for supporting Athecontacts. l l

llnle'ferring more 'per' cu'lzirly J"to vthe' drew- With the coins ll therein.

The contacts 'l2lan'dfl3irre 'a'circuit 145.1175

17:7. Y'Coin arresting" fingers anelflia're fingers arey soV 'disposed Yrelatively "to one an? other theitoiilyone linger atisrtim'e' may be projectedinto'the.path 'of the coins inthecoi chute; 'and 'one linger lies ahovethe insulated l con'tzmts 12 'afrrclla the otherffinger' being -located"just-loelovv kseid contacts. "Al coil e spring 2l is connected 'to the lever 20 and 'to e.

ffxedstud and :rots yieldinglyto: bias then leverV "20 to the position' shoWnin'Figure' 2in v'vhi'eh (the 'finger l9isoutjof ,the ohute'and the' finger T8 proj-ects`-into the chute. Avfbell Cljinlr l 'lever' 2i?, fulcruniedlt is afdfapted` to jbar against the lever' 20 'forthe' purpose'. of shiftfstitiiting the ermeiture `ofthelelectro iifagneft lo. *The erm '24 l is 'carried' by ione' branch 25 oit :1- substontfifllyL=shuped'leverftheother 'brune-,hof whichlis-designated 'et 1726-. v-The Wit'hrun V'electromagnet 16 ofthe time'v c'on'- vtrfo'lled mechanism designted generally at v ,fing said lever to ythe 'position shownin lnthe drawings, wherein likesymlools r-e.-` 'Flugm'el' iooy wheel30 cooperates with a companion disc or wheel 31, preferably of smaller diameter.

Refer 1ingmore particularly to Figure 3, the two discs are shown as mounted on a bearing member 32 having the stepped surface 33 on which the disc 30 is loosely mounted and the second stepped surface 34 on which the companion disc 31 is tixedly mounted. The bearing member 32 is fixedly mounted upon a shaft 35 which is driven by the clock-work or time controlled mechanism 17. In one face of the disc 30 there is made a recess 36 to receive a circular or other form of spring 37 having the out-turned ends 38 and 39 as shown in Figure G fitting into sockets 40 and 41 made respectively in the discs 30 and 31. The lever 26 carries at its upper end a spring' or resilient member 42, preferably having its intermediate portion looped, as indicated at 43 to increase the resilient tension of the free arm 44.

This arm 44 is adapted to engage the balance wheel 45 of the time controlled mechanism. The balance wheel is associated, in the customary manner with the escapement 46. The other portion of the time controlled mechanism, may be the usual clock-work train and the shaft 35 may carry the minute hand or be connected with the arbor that carries such hand.

The notches 29 in the disc 30 may be disposed at quadrants or at 90O from one another, in Vwhich case they representiifteen minute intervals. It will be understood7 however, that the notches 29 may be angularly displaced on the periphery of the disc 30 in any desired way. The branch 25 of the Alever 26 carries also an insulating block 47 for engaging beneath a switch contact 48, the other contact of which is indicated at 49.

The contacts 48 and 49 are in the circuit indicated atO and 51, which is the performance circuit, and is adapted to do the work, what-- ever it may be. For instance, the circuit wires and 51 may be connected to a radio circuit.

In operation, the parts are normally in the position shown in Figure 2. If we assume that there is no coin in thechute 10, then the coil spring 21 will draw the lever 20 over so that the finger18 below the contacts 12 and 13 is projected into the chute, while the upper linger 19 is withdrawn.

Y This action of the spring 21 in drawing the lever 2O over to the right, will act through the bell crank 22 to lift the armature-24 and in so doing to swing the lever 26 to the position shown in Figure 2, in which the projection v28 of said lever enters the notch 29 of the disc 30 which is presented to it.

In Figure 2 the spring stop arm 44 is shown as engaging the balance wheel 45, which acts to arrest the movement of the time controlled mechanism. The block'47 is also swung down so that the spring contact fingers 48 and 49 will be separated, it being understood that these spring fingers are biased to an openposition. As a consequence the work circuit 50, 51. is dead and the apparatus awaits the insertion of a coin of the selected denomination in the chute 10. Upon the insertion of such coin, the coin will descend to the position shown by the lowermost coin in VFigure 2. lIn other words the coin will fall until its progress is arrested by the lower stop finger 18, which is so positioned that it will hold the coin bridging the insulated contacts 12 and 13, and a circuit 14, 15 will be closed through the coin and through the electro-magnet 1G. The electro-magnet will attract the armature 24, thus vibrating the bell cranlr lever 22 and the lever 2O to the position shown in Figure 1, the finger 18 being withdrawn from the coin chute and the coin being released and dropped down the chute `to a proper coin depositoryv below.

At the same time the upper linger 19 is brought into the chute so that coins above will be withheld. TWhen the electro-magnet draws the armature 24 down, it closes the work circuit through the block 47 engaging the spring contact arm 48 of the switch and the radio will be energized and begin its performance. tthe same time the spring stop arm 44 is withdrawn from the balance wheel 45 and the clock-work mechanism will immediately begin to work, thus driving positively the disc 31 through the shaft 35 and yieldably the companion notched disc 30 through the spring connection 37.

Y As the notched disc 30 rotates, the piojeci ,29. This angular distance may be varied as desired to suit the requirements of the work circuit.

As shown the clock-work mechanism will continue for a period of one-quarter of an hour, whereupon the next notch 29 is presented to the projection 28. IWhen this ocf curs the coilspring 21 will act through the levers 20, 22 and armature'24 upon the lever 26, thus moving all of these parts to the position shown in Figure 2 and permitting the switch contacts 48 and 49 to spring apart thus opening the work circuit 50 and 51 and suspending the performance of the radio or other apparatus.

' Now it has been found inconvenient to repeat the insertion of coins at the expiration of each time interval.' For instance, in restaurants diners are obliged to get up from the table each time Vthe performance stops to insert an additional coin if-they care for a continuance of the entertainment. The sus- 4pension uof the performance ori 'entertainment at the end 'of short intervals is aiso'very undesirable in connection With-alternating current radio receiving sets, becauseof'the vfact that the-tnbesscool and timefis involved-Vin the i'eheating. of the tubes' be-fore'fthe` per- Vformance can be continued'and Va certain aihotmt 4of the perform-ance is lost which destroys the vcontinuity ofthe entertainment;

Forthese and 'other reasons', the'present apparatus is'so constructedfthat a patron may in'one trip tothe machined'eposit a plurality ofroins toccov'er anyninltipleof the time interval of' theapparatus; l I In Figure 2li-three coinscarey shown in the chlnte Whfi :h would continue the performance for .thre'ei-iqnavrters `of an'hour in accordance with the 'distribution 'of thenotches- 29 shown iin-,the 'embodiment lof the drawings. The

Vaction, jof the apparatus in response tothe pl'acingfofa single coin in. the slot rhas alieady*been-described'. w

It might further besaid, in 'explanation of the repeated action'of several coins, that When'the notch 29is presente-:l to' the .projec-` tion @Sand the vvprog e'ctionA entersA that notch,

accompanied by the swinging of the lever 26 tof` the position shown in Figure 2, While thefjdisc 30 is thereuponrigidlyheld agafil'ist any' further rotary movement,v there will: bea certain lag between the discs 30 and before. the'clo'c'lreworlr mechanism can be stopped by .the fricti'onaly engagement of the balanceivheele'bythefspringarm 4:4'. r.'

in otherW'ord-s the disc 3l, vvhichis posi` u Vven by the'7 clock'eworlr mechanism ivillx. conv-:nue to ``r tate ia; .smalli'angular 'distance evenv after the companion disc 30 has beenuc'ompl'etely stopped. This relative an- ,g'lar -ia'gjis permitted by reason of-the fact that the: fdisc "301 i's only loosely mounted on the bearing. member 32tan'd it islonlyzdriven fromthe fdisc *31 through the springt?, 'which will; befwoundto; an extent proportional to the relative angular movement between the discs, andwill thereby become lendowed with suiiicient potential energy to impart to. the disc 3G-a, qnickrsliort rotary movement, talring npisnch largas socn as thelprojection 2S islwithdrawn, from the notch29, as'V by 'the action 'lofA "dJTQthr vcoin l1 in'` the lcoinl chiite.

ni*,Ot-hemv sezas soon asthe coin freed,- Whfich rwould happen rapidly, the. spring '21 would tend to'. 'bring `the projection 28 Vback i ifntothe sam-ei notch 29 from which` it had Yso recently beeny lifted-.x Thisquiclr short rotary movement Vofy the disc 30 by the 'action of; thefc'oil 'springe .B7 is sufficient to remove the notch 29' fromthe path of 'theprojection 28', soth'at oncev thelever 267 isfsvvnng ont Lto the 1 ,position shown inwFigurezl the @notch 29 Will havexescapedy fromv the' prcjecti'onQS and theblafrlr`v rim of,the'disc 30 Will present itself to the projection 28 no matter how quiclily that projection may attempt to enter the notch. This vvillY insure the continnanc'e v'of theperformance forwhich' the patron has paid bythe deposit of his coin.- -NoW When the first coinhasldropped throughafter clos` inglthe circuit through the-electroemagnet 16 and starting-the iirst performance-,that

placing the Yvariousparts in thefpositi'on shown in Figure l, the iinger 19 Will hold the other coinsin the coin chute above the contacts: l2V and i3 and: the spring 21 .Willbe held inoperative because of theen'gagement of the projection 28 yvviththerim of the disc ure l is, therefore, `assured until the next notch of disc 30 appears before the pro# ject-ion 28, whereupon the spring 2l Will be# come active forcingthe'projection 28 into the presented notch ,29 and moving all of the partsto the position shown-in- Figure 2.V A

The coins "f illlnow descend to theposition, shown in Figure 2, theupper 'finger' 19 having` been Withdrawn from the coin chute. The lower linger 18 Will, ofcourse, be thrust in to hold the nextloivermostfcoinl across the contacts l2 and 18 foi-an;appreci'abletime necessary to close the vcircuit through the l 30,'j The `position ofthe ,parts shown in Figs n i electro-magnet 1'6 andrestore Athepaits to Y the position shown in Fignre l. @ther coins abo-ve will act inthe same Way and the action of the coins Will be instantaneous on the mechanism, so that the switch 48, i9 Willonly befclose'd momentarily andthere vv'ilibe subi stantial continuityv of the radio or otherlperc-y forinan ceforentertainment.Qv I

` ItV is obvious' that various-changes. and

modificationsmay be'made inthe detailsjiof construction and design of theabove specifi?,

' cally described embodiment yofthis inventiony lapse of each inter-valfof time, and.coin-conf.v

trolled inechanismu for Withdravi/ing Vsaid locking means.

2,. .In ,an` apparatus ofl thel character described, v. a time-controlled mechani'snn a member drivenjthcreby, a device-'adapted .to bejheld'by said member in locking position for` successive predetermined'Y intervals@ of time, said-memberand device haivingginteren?` gagging,locking means whereby `said, deVCe holds saidmember against rotation' after vthe (if QeChntsrYaI-Qf time @Gin-@Outlpllcd means for withdrawing said device from locking position, and means between said time-controlled mechanism and said member whereby the latter is automatically moved forwardly when said device is released therefrom so as to prevent said device from again locking said member in the same position.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, a time-controlled mechanism, a notched disk driven thereby, means between said mechanism and disk for throwing the latter forwardly of said `mechanism when said disk is released, a device adapted to engage against the periphery of said disk between said notches whereby said device is held by said disk in operative position for successive intervals of time, said device having a projection adapted to engage in said notches whereby to arrest the movement of said disk, and coin-controlled means to release said device from locking position.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, a time-controlled mechanism, a notched disk, a resilient connection between said mechanism and disk, a device adapted to engage against the periphery of said disk between said notches whereby said device is held in operated position for successive intervals of time, said device having a projection adapted to engage in said notches whereby to arrest the movement of said disk and to place said resilient connection under tension, and coin-controlled means for releasing said device from locking position.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, a time-controlled mechanism, a notched disk driven thereby, a resilient connection between said mechanism and disk, a locking device adapted to engage the periphery of said disk between said notches whereby said device is held in operated position for successive predetermined intervals `of time, said device having a projection adapted to engage in the respectivenotches whereby to arrest the movement of the disk and to place said resilient connection under tension, and coin-controlled mechanism adapted to receive and hold a plurality of coins, and means operated by the successive coins when they reach a predetermined position for releasing said device from said disk, said coin-controlled mechanism having means for successively and singly feeding the coins therein past said position upon each locking movement of said device.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, a time-controlled mechanism, a disk rotatable therewith, a second notched disk, resilient driving means between said disks, a. device adapted to engage the periphery of said second disk between the not-ches thereof whereby said device is held in operated position for successive intervals of time, said device having a projection to enter the notches of said disk whereby to arrest the movement of the disk and place said connection under tension, said device having means adapted to stop said time-controlled mechanism when said projection enters into a notch, and cointime, said projection being adapted to enter said notches to arrest the movement of said second disk, a magnet for moving said lever to operative position, and a coin-controlled mechanism for controlling said magnet.

8. In an apparatus of the character described, a clock mechanism, a notched disk driven thereby, a resilient connection between said clock mechanism and disk, a pivoted lever having a projection adapted to engage the periphery of said disk between said notches whereby said lever is held in operated position for successive predetermined intervals of time, said projection being adapted to enter a notch Vupon the lapse of each interval of time, a switch controlled by said lever, a coin-controlled mechanism having a chute provided with spaced contacts adapted to be bridged by a coin in the chute, an electric magnet in circuit with said contacts, an armature for said magnet carried by said lever, said coin-controlled mechanism having connected coin arresting fingers positioned to be alternatelyprojected into the chute above and below said contacts, a spring normally holding the finger above said contacts out of said chute and the finger below said contacts in said chute, and a connection between said armature and said fingers for reversing the position of said fingers when said lever is in operated posi'- tion.

9. In an apparatus of the character described, a time controlled mechanism, a

Vmember driven thereby, 4a locking device adapted to be held out of locking position by said member for successive predetermined intervals of time, said device and said member having interengaging locking means for locking said member against movement after the lapse of each interval of time, coin controlled mechanism for withdrawing said locking device from locking position, and means to produce relative movement between the locking device and the member to prevent immediate re-engagement of the locking means after disengagement thereof.

ALBERT P. HODGE.

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